NOAA/WDS Paleoclimatology - South China Sea 1996-2002 Weekly-Monthly Resolution Coral d13C and d18O Data

Great efforts have been made to understand the impacts of the 1997 Indonesian wildfires on land ecology and human health, yet its influences on marine environments are poorly understood owing to sparse observations. Here we present weekly to monthly resolution coral d13C records across the South China Sea in conjunction with a regional ocean general circulation model to study the effects of these cataclysmic wildfires on nearby oceans. Large and persistent negative d13C excursions were found in corals from the interior South China Sea several months after the wildfires. This delay indicates that the 13C-depleted ash fallout was distributed by ocean currents rather than direct atmospheric transport, which is supported by the results of our numerical model. Thus, the impacts of tropical wildfires on marine ecology may last for 1 year and extend thousands of kilometers from the burning center.